Harry Potter and the Tears of a Shadow
by October Spirit
Summary: Harry Potter has a lot on his mind this year. OWL results, the death of his godfather, a new student that seems to know a lot about others’ pasts and futures, and a Defense teacher with big secret. And on top of that, a lurking prophecy that could chang
1. Prologue: Goodbye

**Prologue: Her Death**

Thunder and lighting danced violently around her. She knew it would end this way, she had always known but nothing could have prepared her. There were so many things left in life for her. Like her boyfriend that was rumored to propose to her next week or her sister. Who would take care of her?

Lightning struck the field as she walked calmly down the abandoned green. The rain soaked through her robes and onto her already fear-numbed skin. Terror flowed freely through her veins like poison, thinning it into nothing. She had long given up on fighting for her life. Maybe she would end it now, or maybe not. She had yet to name someone other than Dumbledore to make it out alive in situations like this.

She took in a sharp breath as a second cloaked figure approached her from the other end of the field. She waited for him, silently saying goodbye to loved ones and life itself.

"Dorcas Kyranae Meadowes," a snake-like voice drawled from under the hood of the cloak opposite of herself.

"Voldemort," Dorcas greeted smoothly, surprised at the composure in her voice.

Two men appeared next to Voldemort. 

"You know Severus and Lucius, I'm sure," Voldemort gestured to the men. 

Lightning flashed and Dorcas saw fear in the black eyes of her fellow Order member. But they had known this would happen. Voldemort was testing Snape. Dorcas knew it. 

"Yes, I know them." Dorcas spat bitterly.

They stood in silence, the wind whipping around them, the lightning striking dangerously close. Dorcas could feel the electricity in the air; she felt it nip at the buckles of her boots, and the white gold promise ring on her finger. It had been given to her by the one man that could make her laugh until she cried. The one man shunned by a society that would miss out on getting to know one of the greatest men ever.

In the din of the thunder the words of the spell were lost, but with a sharp movement with her wand the violent spell hit Snape. Snape fell to the ground dramatically, clutching the bleeding wound in his side. Dorcas knew he was overplaying it as a distraction and if she lived, she'd thank him. But now was not time to think about manners.

"Avad—" Lucius began, kicking Snape aside, but Dorcas was quicker.

"_STUPIFY_! _Impedimenta_!" Time slowed and Dorcas watched Lucius fall to the ground, mud splattering at the hem of Voldemort's robes.

"Worthless," Voldemort spat, kicking the unconscious Malfoy hard in the stomach. "If you want something done right…" Voldemort shrugged lightly. 

"_Crucio!"_

Dorcas fell to the ground her body writhed in pain, she tried to detach herself from it, but the pain was too much. She would not scream, she couldn't. Energy was draining fast from her already small body. The pain grew intensely unbearable and Dorcas gritted her teeth tightly, she refused to scream. It felt like a thousand white-hot knives where plunging in and out of her back. Dorcas felt like she was drowning, the air escaping from her collapsing lungs.

Voldemort lifted the spell and pulled her up from the ground roughly.

"Care to duel?" he whispered, caressing her face with a long, bony finger. "Of course you do."

In an instant Dorcas had her wand above her shoulder, her left hand out in front of her. She would duel him and win, or die trying. 

"_Petrificus__ Totalus!" Dorcas shouted._

"_Imperio!"_

The spells clashed in the air and Dorcas squinted against the bright light as the spells exploded in the sky. It was then that Voldemort made his move. Nobody won when they dueled him. No one except Albus Dumbledore and he wasn't here to save her. Not this time. Oh how lucky she'd been before. But now her luck had run out. No one knew where she was.

"_AVADA KEDAVRA_!" Voldemort exclaimed, watching her body fall to the ground flaccid and limp; he apparated without second thought.

Dorcas awoke in a white room, her mother and father looking down at her with sad eyes. 

"M—mum?" Dorcas gasped, and turned to her father. "D—Dad?" 

Tears stained Dorcas' cheeks and her mother pushed a piece of strawberry hair from Dorcas' freckled face. 

"W-What about Remus?" Dorcas sobbed. "I loved him more than anything!"

"In time you'll be together in time," Dorcas' mother answered. "In time."

Mrs. Meadowes had no idea what was going to happen sixteen years later…

Author's Note: You can also find this posted on here. Feel free to also email me at this address if you have any questions. Also don't hesitate to visit my blog for some of the latest Harry Potter gossip and pics.

Thanks to: Elaine for betaing! 


	2. Chapter One: Mistake

**Chapter One: Mistake**

**"Long lost words whisper slowly to me.**

**Still can't find what keeps me here."**

**~ "Haunted", Evanescence**

She stood there by the veil, tapping her small right foot impatiently. Her strawberry blonde hair was cut short and choppy but accented her many freckles nicely. Though short and quite thin, she had a powerful energy that made her feared by the enemy. That was why she had been one of his main targets. She'd put up a hard fight against the Death Eaters; enough that Voldemort himself had come to kill her. Staring around at the white room, her sharp green eyes narrowed. The black veil quivered violently and Dorcas Meadowes prepared herself for the new arrival. She'd been waiting for this person ever since her death she'd get to be with her love again after nearly sixteen years.

A tall black haired man with scared blue eyes tumbled through the veil. He coughed and pushed himself up, standing unsteadily as he surveyed the room.

"What happened? Where the hell is this? Where's Harry?" he spluttered looking around the room. His eyes fell on Dorcas and widened.

Sirius stared at the woman he hadn't seen since he was twenty. Her hands were on her hips and her piercing jade eyes bore into his. His hands shook slightly and he blinked a few times before she finally spoke.

"SIRUS ORION BLACK, WHAT IN THE NAME OF HOGWARTS ARE YOU DOING HERE?" she shouted angrily.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Hello Dorcas," he greeted flatly, his eyes filled with surprise and a hint of amusement. She was just as he remembered her. Short and full of attitude.

"Don't you hello me. Where's Remus?" she spat.

Sirius' other eyebrow rose up next to the already raised one.

Dorcas threw her hands in the air and cursed loudly.

"You are _not supposed to be here, Sirius! Where's Remus?" _

"I don't know. I need to get back to Harry." Sirius stated sadly.

"HARRY? Oh Gods! How is he going to get through his sixth year without you? You're supposed to protect him from Voldemort at--" Dorcas covered her mouth quickly and smacked her forehead with the other hand.

"I am dead, aren't I? But I'm not supposed to be?" Sirius asked slowly and quietly. "Does that mean I can go back?"

Dorcas' face softened and she looked at Sirius sadly. "You can't go back. I'm sorry, Sirius. I'm so sorry."

"What about Harry?" Sirius asked in a small voice.

Dorcas' heart sank, she had no idea. She walked up to him slowly and hugged him. They stood together for a while, but in Heaven time passed differently and Dorcas was never able to tell how much time had really passed. When she watched Harry and his friends discuss the date, Dorcas had figured out how much time had passed since her death and how many years until she could be reunited with her love again. And now everything had been screwed up by the man in her arms.

"Come with me, Lily and James will want to talk with you." Dorcas said walking up to a wall and waving her hand across the surface. A large black door appeared on the wall. Sirius looked at her questionably but Dorcas only nodded and pushed open the door. 

The room they entered was beautiful. The walls sparkled vibrantly and golden columns held up a beautifully painted ceiling full of angels, wizards, muggles, animals, plants; everything that Sirius could think of was on the vast ceiling. 

Dorcas heard Sirius take in a sharp breath and shuffle nervously.

"C'mon now, this is Heaven." Dorcas patted Sirius' shoulder but Sirius remained motionless.

"This is it, isn't it?" Sirius asked in a hushed voice. "I—I can't believe it."

"Most don't at first, Padfoot. I've greeted many people as they've come into Heaven. My sister, Lily and James, Order members, professors, dorm mates at Hogwarts, even a few Muggles I knew from when I was only a baby and hadn't shown signs of magic yet. Out of all of those people, only two were not surprised to be here. I'm sure you can guess who."

Sirius nodded sadly. "They hate me, don't they?"

Dorcas felt a tinge of guilt for wishing Remus was dead with her. It had been selfish, this man before her, Sirius Black, had been to Hell and back, but then again so had Remus, every month.

"I'm sorry I'm not Remus, Dorcas." Sirius mumbled.

_Damn him for reading faces!_

"One, the Potters don't hate you. None of them. Two, Harry needs someone to look after him. If you're not there to watch Harry, why not Remus?"

Dorcas laughed nervously and led Sirius down a long hallway. She explained the way you could watch the living from certain areas and how Sirius could still visit Harry through dreams but that when Harry woke the next morning he would most likely not remember seeing Sirius.

They reached the end of the hallway and Sirius stared at the empty wall.

"I guess I should explain this." Dorcas stated, looking at the blank faced Sirius and equally blank wall. "Heaven is anything you want it to be. You can create doors to anywhere you want to go. Like this."

Dorcas paused and raised her hand as high as she could and slowly brought it to the white marble floor. A shimmering blue door appeared and Dorcas pulled it open. They were surrounded in a small room with empty walls, a chair rested against the fourth wall while the other three remained vacant. 

"Past," Dorcas motioned towards the nearest wall, "present," she motioned toward the wall parallel to the chair, "and future." She finished up, the walls still bare.

Dorcas closed her eyes and the walls began to ripple as if they were made out of water. The figure of a cloaked man apparating appeared on the center wall, while on the wall Dorcas explained as past he was seen teaching and transforming into a wolf. On the future wall, the screen was garbled and blurred.

"Remus…" Sirius whispered in awe. 

"Yup." Dorcas whispered taking in the sound of his voice, the smell of his fur as a wolf and the feeling of calm in a frantic environment.

"What about that wall?" Sirius pointed to the flickering wall.

"His future needs to be rewritten. I expect it'll work itself out soon." Dorcas explained.

"Can I see Harry?" Sirius asked, not taking his eyes off the walls.

"Later, now you need to see Lily and James."

Reluctantly Sirius followed Dorcas out of the room.   
  


"They should be waiting for us in the main entrance room." Dorcas stated as they walked back down the hallway. "They're expecting Remus though, so if they're surprised—"

But a small man in golden robes stopped the two before Dorcas could finish her sentence.

"Dorcas Meadowes?" he inquired.

Dorcas nodded, confused. 

"Come with me." He stated authoritatively. 

"Ok…Sirius, just follow the hallway until it empties out into the large circular room we were in earlier." Dorcas stated in an unsure voice.

Sirius nodded and watched Dorcas walk away with the man.

** ** ** 

Harry Potter sat on the foot of his bed writing another fake letter to the Order.

_Remus—No need to worry about me, life at the Dursley's is much better_. ("Not," he mumbled to himself.)_Dudley_ has let me use his computer a few times. It's a Muggle machine._ (Just kidding)__ Aunt Petunia gave me some new shoes. (That used to belong to Dudley until he couldn't fit his fat feet into them.) _I'm truly having a great summer._ (For a boy who has just learned that he is the only chance for an entire race to survive.) _Well I just thought I'd tell you everything was great. ~HP__

Harry sighed as he put the letter into an envelope and walked over to Hedwig who hooted disapprovingly over the letter she was going to have to deliver. 

"Oh, c'mon!" Harry said to the elegant bird as he tied the letter to her foot. "All I need is someone from the Order coming to rescue me. I don't want to see them anyway."

"OY! POTTER!" Dudley called from the stairs.

"Bye Hedwig," Harry said as he watched the bird fly off into the evening sky. "WHAT?" Harry shouted back at Dudley who had continued to scream Harry's name the entire time Harry had been sending off his letter.

"MUM SAYS TO GET YOUR ARSE DOWN FOR DINNER NOW OR YOU DON'T GET ANY!"

Harry didn't move. He hadn't been hungry ever since the death of his godfather. He hadn't smiled, nor had he written his friends. It just didn't feel right. This summer he watched the news sadly, sighing to himself when a strange murder or missing person was reported. Voldemort had begun his attacks, starting with his godfather. Harry refused to believe that the "Thirteen dead in an Edinburgh home with no signs of torture or poison" had been Voldemort's doing. Yet in the back of his mind that little voice called common sense pointed out all of the factors proving it was indeed Voldemort.

"Oddly shaped smoke clouds, wide, shocked eyes…" the reporter had explained, walking in front of the house and along the sidewalk as she gave inferences on what had happened; her magenta business suit oddly cheerful as she talked about the deaths of thirteen people as if they would come back the next day.

"And now over to Jack with sports." She had smiled brightly at the camera, her artificially whitened teeth gleaming horribly in the camera light as she stood in front of the remains of the house.

"POTTER!" 

Harry snapped back from his memory and looked at the door, wishing they would just leave him alone.

"I'M NOT HUNGRY!" Harry bellowed from behind his door loudly, sighing slightly. Thunder rolled loudly from outside and Harry pitied whomever was watching Privet Drive in an invisibility cloak. 

_Serves them right though…_Harry thought bitterly. _I deserve my bloody privacy or at least some stupid answers._

Little did Harry know that outside, standing in the rain was his favorite ex-professor, Remus Lupin who could have cared less about the rain as he looked up at Harry's room and watched the light go out, glad the boy had made it through another day but depressed that he himself had made it too. All his friends were gone and as the cold rain soaked through the cloak Remus felt the strong undertow that was depression pull him deeper into the murky ocean of misery.

** ** **

"_I have to pay for the stupid bloke's mistake?" Dorcas shouted; her eyes wide with fury._

"We cannot send your friend back that quickly and it is best to keep this hush-hush." The man explained in a warning manner.

"But why do _I _have to get involved?" She protested, furious.

"The council has decided that, not I. Nor was I told their reasons." He pulled out an opalescent folder with official gold writing on the front. "Take this." He shoved the folder into Dorcas' hands and before she could protest, an odd tugging at her navel began.

The next thing Dorcas could remember was a pair of steal cold eyes looking over at her whispering the words, "Livi de Tomel? Ms. de Tomel?"

** ** **

Liz: So, what did you think?

*Marauders*

Peter: *blinks*

Sirius: I'm dead?!

James: Join the club.

Remus: I hope I get to see Dorcas soon.

Sirius: Who's Livi?

Liz: You'll see.

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	3. Chapter Two: Hogwarts

Chapter Two: Hogwarts

Severus Snape loved everything about rain. He loved the way it fed into his dreadful mood and the way the gray skies seemed to dampen the spirits of even the liveliest students. Looking out one of the enchanted dungeon windows, Snape saw lightning temporarily etch itself violently across the sky. The thunder sounded long enough after that Snape could still enjoy a nice walk without any danger.

Severus grabbed his cloak and swung it around his shoulders, the cloak billowing around evilly. A small smile formed at the corner of his mouth; he still had that frightening edge about him.

The rain quickly soaked the uncovered parts of Severus' body as he walked across the grounds. As he neared the Hogwarts gates, Severus remembered his low supply of powdered unicorn horn and decided it would be best to go into Hogsmeade and replenish his supplies. Maybe he'd even treat himself to some venom of an Inland Taipan, the most poisonous snake in the world, only to be used in the most complex potions. Too much or too little of the venom could decide whether the victim recovered fully or died a slow and very painful death. The perfect thing to threaten the show-off students like Potter.

Snape smiled as he pushed open the large gates and descended down the long path to Hogsmeade. The rain pelted his shoulder-length black hair, the water dripping off of his long hooked nose. Watching lightning streak across the sky another time, Severus listened for the thunder. Though closer, he was still okay. 

He surveyed his empty surroundings. To one side of him was the Dark Forest and to the other was a large field, cut neatly for the younger children of Hogsmeade to play in. But today it was empty. Severus looked over the field and felt his heart stop. Suddenly he could not feel the rain, the thunder did not sound in his head and the only thing on Severus' mind was the crumpled shape in the middle of the field.

Severus Snape ran towards the shape, not even thinking twice. Though he was considered to be the 'Slimy Git of Hogwarts', it didn't mean that it was _completely true. As he grew closer, he realized that it was the body was a woman. Long curly maroon hair covered her face and Severus quickly brushed it away to see if she was breathing. Her breath came in short and sharp intake and she appeared to be unconscious. Without thinking twice, Severus scooped up the woman and disapparated to the gates of Hogwarts._

Lightning struck followed immediately by thunder. The rain raged on unmercifully as Snape made his way up to the main doors. The woman, limp in his arms, moaned and mumbled incoherently in Severus' arms.

"Shhh, we'll be at the Headmaster's office soon." Snape whispered as he bounded up the stairs towards the tower where Albus Dumbledore's office was. Finally he arrived in front of the spiral staircase.

"Canary Cream!" he exclaimed, not having a chance to wonder about the headmaster's obsession with sweets.

"Ah, Severus, how nice of you to—who's that?" Dumbledore asked, pushing himself up from his desk and going over to the woman his Potions Master was holding.

"I don't know, I found her," Snape explained. "She was in a field near Hogsmeade." 

Dumbledore nodded slowly. "I see," Dumbledore looked closely at the woman and walked around her quietly, looking at her closely. "I don't think she was one of my students. Does she have any form of identification on her?"

"Didn't check," Severus stated. "I knew Poppy wasn't here so I brought her to you."

"I'll go fetch Madame Pomfrey. You get this woman situated in the Hospital Wing, and if you can, look for some way to identify us with her."

Severus nodded and walked up towards the Hospital Wing. The beds were strangely empty and rarely did Snape find himself in an empty hospital wing. Normally, he would be bringing potions for fairly ill students and many of the beds would be full. But now the school was completely empty, void of the loud, obnoxious fifth, sixth and seventh years, easily excited third and forth years and pathetic first and second years.

Laying her pale body down carefully, Severus began to search for some way to figure out who she was. Inside the cloak she was wearing was a soaked piece of parchment. Carefully he unraveled the mess of parchment. It was a resume, for the Defense Against The Dark Arts position at Hogwarts.

"It's been two weeks," He muttered to himself. "I didn't know Albus put out an ad."

Severus read through the runny-inked paper, impressed. Her name was Livi de Tomel and she had come from teaching Defense at the Beauxbatons where she had also attended school.

The sound of footsteps startled Severus and he looked up as three people walked into the room. Severus nodded in greeting to the school matron and then nodded again in greeting to the Headmaster. His eyes then traveled to the third person and he sneered something awful. 

"Just what in the name of magic is _he_ doing here?" Snape hissed.

"It's a full moon tomorrow night, Severus. Poppy would like to keep him close by this summer so he is staying in one of the guest quarters up near Gryffindor Tower." 

Remus remained silent and took a seat at the far end of the wing, not making eye contact with anyone in the room.

"So, Severus, do we know who she is?" Dumbledore asked looking at the woman. 

She was tall and had curves in all the right places with very long maroon hair and a pale complexion. Her robes were of a soft lavender shade and she wore a pair of heeled black boots. She opened her eyes carefully. They were of the softest blue color, shaded by thick black lashes. Snape had never seen eyes of such a unique shade of blue.

"Livi de Tomel." Snape looked down at the woman as she squinted and attempted the put her hand to her head. "Livi de Tomel? Ms. de Tomel?"

Livi moaned and immediately Madame Pomfrey was pushing Snape and Dumbledore away and clucking about Livi. 

"Ms. de Tomel, can you hear me?" Madame Pomfrey asked as she mixed two potions.

"Who's Ms. de Tomel?" she asked, but it just came out a low moan.

** ** **

Frantic, Livi tried to remember everything, anything, she searched her mind as hard as she could but it was empty. Blank. A white empty room. 

A white room with a shaken man with pale blue eyes and long black hair. A white room filled with people surprised, silent, joking, and even crying, a short, auburn haired woman greeting every single one of them warmly. 

Livi remembered, and it hurt. Lightning reflecting in red snake eyes as a green jet of light flew towards the red head. The same woman smiling with a man for a picture, her sharp green eyes and his golden ones glowing with happiness with a bunch of people posing together; many would not live to see the first fall of Voldemort, herself included. But why was she here then? 

Then it hit her. Sirius. It was his fault that she was back. Why did he have to be such a jerk? Livi felt tears burn in her eyes. She wouldn't get to see Lily and James anymore. She wouldn't know what was going to happen next. She would have to live in a world of pain and feeling. More memories flashed through her mind. A man with long brown hair pulled into a ponytail, slipping on a white gold promise ring onto the small finger of the same redhead from before, but Dorcas Meadowes was no more. She was now Livi de Tomel and she would go on. Livi would make the best of the situation. A wizard with snake like features and red eyes stared down at her from inside her mind, laughing loudly.

Livi shut her eyes, hoping the memories would go away. 

 "Livi?" 

"I'm Livi." Livi whispered, as if trying to make it fact.

"Yes," the nurse began slowly, "you're Livi de Tomel."

_Madame Pomfrey, oh how I used to spend so much time in here. You used to chastise me for getting involved with the Marauders._ Livi remembered. 

_'They're just trouble, Dorcas, trouble. Don't go meddling with those boys, you hear me?_' The old woman's voice sounded in her head.

"Are you okay dear? You were just lying in a field when Severus found you. In the rain no less!" Madame Pomfrey asked; her already lined face imprinted with concern.

"I'm fine."

_If you consider being spit back on Earth from Heaven in the body of someone else fine, then sure, I'm just bloody wonderful!_

"Drink this, I'll check on you in an hour." The school matron stated as a small vial containing a purple potion appeared on her nightstand.

Livi winced but nodded politely and watched the nurse walk over to another bed where a man had been resting. She began clucking away and reprimanding him for this and that. Livi positioned herself to get a better view, but Pomfrey had already pulled the curtain around the man and gone off.

"Ms. de Tomel," a man with a long hooked nose, cold black eyes and pale skin began.

_SNAPE?!__ No it can't be. Gods this is so hard._

"I am Professor Severus Snape, the Potions Master here at Hogwarts. I'm the one who found you." 

_I'll be damned…He certainly looks…different…Like his father…_

"Thank you for rescuing me, Professor." Livi mumbled. "I'm sorry if it was any inconvenience." 

Severus was about to say something when Albus Dumbledore put a piece of parchment down and spoke.

"None at all, for you see, if you are still feeling up to it, I'd like you to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts here at Hogwarts."

Livi was unsure of what to say. She opened her mouth a few times to speak but she couldn't find the words to say, 

"You've had quite a day, Ms. de Tomel, please think about it though, your resume is quite good and I'd love to add you to my staff." Dumbledore explained. "Now I must discuss some matters with the headmaster from the Potens Maga Institute in Rome."

"Thank you, Professor." Livi mumbled, not wanting to meet his eyes. 

Dumbldore nodded to her and swept from the room, his purple robes with silver stars and moons trailing regally after him. Livi could feel Snape's eyes on her body, inspecting her. Livi had yet to look in a mirror and see what she looked like, and she wasn't sure if she'd ever want to. She was almost certain she was not in the same body she had been sixteen years ago. Livi sighed and met Snape's eyes.

"Can I help you, _professor_?" Livi snapped.

Snape seemed to jump at the tone and began sneering at the woman in the bed.

_There's the Snape I knew! No wait, know. Think Auror training; you have to make the best of each situation. I'm pretty sure Moody didn't mean getting reincarnated though! _

"No, Ms. de Tomel. I suggest you take the potion Poppy Pomfrey gave you. It will make you feel much better. Though you seem to be getting healthier as we speak," Snape finished up, his icy tones causing Livi wince. This was definitely her Snape.

"I will take it professor, and hopefully it will make me well enough to talk to the headmaster about my new job." 

"You don't know that Dumbledore will give it to you."

"Don't I?" Livi asked snidely; glad to see the slimy git leave the room without further conversation.

Smiling to herself, Livi drink the purple potion. It was very sour and burned the tip of her tongue. She had never had such a potion before, even in her training days when they had learned every healing potion available. This was amazing. The effects quickly took place and she renewed; all energy restored.

Livi was about to push herself from the bed when Pomfrey came rushing over.

"Ms. de Tomel!" she shouted shrilly, pushing Livi down. "You shouldn't try to get up yet."

"I feel perfectly fine." Livi explained. "I need to talk with the headmaster."

Madame Pomfrey rolled her eyes. "Don't us all, now stay put while I go and get some more potions."

"Look," Livi began, "I'm perfectly fine. You don't need to treat me like a little kid. I'm perfectly able of taking care of myself."

Madame Pomfrey glared at her for a second then sighed. "Do you know your way to Dumbledore's office?" 

"I can find it." Livi stated simply. 

"If you feel dizzy or anything out of the ordinary, you get your self right back over here without stopping to smell the flowers." Pomfrey commanded, wagging her finger in Livi's face.

Livi nodded and made her way out of the hospital wing with the purpose to show Snape up. That evil man had always been rude to her since she met him when she was eight at a Ministry ball.

_A small girl with long strawberry blonde hair sat in the corner of the large room, her pale green gown flailed out about her in a perfect circle. She wasn't the only child at the ball, there were a few children wondering around, clinging onto mummy and daddy's arm. But the little girl would rather sit in the corner, humming to herself and watching the younger couples dance happily, laughing and stealing the occasional kiss than walk around with her grandfather. Her little sister was most likely off with Bella Black, but why her sister would hang out with the snotty girl was beyond her._

_"Why can't you do anything right?" a voice snapped somewhere close by. _

_The little girl looked up to see a tall, hook-nosed man slap a boy about her age. Surprisingly he didn't even flinch. The boy just let the man, the girl suspected it was his father, hit him. She watched the man stalk away and see the boy attempt to sink into the shadows. But the little girl wasn't going to let him. She quickly pushed herself up from the ground and ran after him._

_"Wait! Come back!" she shouted, pushing her way through William Weasley and his son, Arthur. _

_Soon Arthur was following the girl, beckoning her to stop. He was easily four years older than the girl but his father was good friends with the girl's grandfather and they saw each other more than occasionally._

_"Dorcas," he began, "why are you running and who are you shouting after?" he called as the girl picked up speed._

_The boy who had been slapped obviously realized he was being chased and ran faster._

_"A boy!"__ Dorcas called back as she exited the ball room and lifted her dress up as they ran onto the damp grass around the large building._

_When Arthur had caught up with Dorcas, she had slowed down as was staring at a still figure at about broomstick's length. In the pale light she could see he had long dark hair, but his back was to them and they couldn't see his face._

_"Are you okay?" Dorcas asked the boy softly._

_"Fine."__ The boy snapped._

_"Hey," Arthur began spinning the boy around. "There's no need to get rude!" _

_Arthur surveyed the boy in the moonlight._

_"A Snape," he hissed. "Should've known." _

_He pushed the Snape on the ground._

_"Art!" Dorcas screamed, rushing down to the Snape. "Are you okay?" she asked him again._

_The Snape just pushed Dorcas away and ran off. Dorcas began to run after him but Arthur put a hand on her shoulder._

_"Death Eaters," he whispered as they walked back to the building. "All of 'em. Dad says that Mr. Snape is a pretty vicious man, I don't think you want to get on the bad side of a Snape, even if that was just his son."_

_"It's too late," Dorcas mumbled sadly, "I already am."_

Livi shook her head slightly, recovering from the memory; absently putting her hand to her face as if she had been slapped. Blinking a few times she made her way towards the office, only to realize she didn't have the password.

"Blast!" she exclaimed, looking at the still gargoyle. "Okay," she muttered. "er…Fizzing Whizbies!" 

The gargoyle remained still.

"Um, Cocoa Canons?" 

No movement.

"Cockroach Cluster?"

Nothing.

_Dammit__, move!_

"Okay, how about… Sour Slime Snakes!"

"They took those off the market fourteen years ago, Ms. de Tomel." A cold voice drawled from behind her.

_Aw, those were good. Kinda resemble you, don't they, Snivellus? _She thought sarcastically.

"Thank you for giving me a lesson on current and incurrent candies, _professor." Livi hissed._

Snape nodded coldly. "And just what are you trying to do by the way?" 

"Isn't it obvious?"

Snape smirked. "Canary Cream." The gargoyle bowed to Snape and stepped aside, revealing the staircase up to Dumbledore's office.

"What is a canary cream?" Livi asked.

"Don't ask." Snape sighed and led her up the staircase. He knocked on a large wooden door three times and Dumbledore beckoned them in.

There were two people Livi did not recognize in the room. A short, portly man with thick salt and pepper hair stood next to a girl with long black her down to her waist. The man greeted them in a loud, thick voice and shook both Livi and Snape's hands.

"Pugnox Amici, headmaster of Pontens Maga Institute." The large man stated behind a short and neatly groomed beard.

"Livi de Tomel." Livi greeted softly, curious as to whom the girl was.

"We'll let you know about our answer, Albus." Pugnox stated before grabbing the girl's hand and pulling out a small golden ball from his pocket that looked almost like a snitch without wings. He muttered a spell and they were gone.

"Lemon Drop?" Dumbledore offered, holding out a dish of the yellow candy. Livi wondered if they were the same ones that had been there when she had last visited him in his office in 1978. That thought in mind she quickly refused.

"I have my answer, Professor." Livi explained; glad to feel Snape stiffen behind her.

"I'm glad, Ms. de Tomel, and what may your answer be?" Dumbledore asked, his blue eyes twinkling behind his half-moon glasses.

"If I am welcome, I'd like to apply for the position as Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor."

"Wonderful!" Dumbledore exclaimed then became very serious. "I warn you, Ms. de Tomel, security at Hogwarts is going to tighten up a great deal with Voldemort back. If I have any suspicion or if any student comes to me with suspicion as to where your loyalties lie, I will not hesitate to remove you from my staff. As you may well know, we have not had the best luck with Defense Against the Dark Arts professors."

Livi nodded solemnly. "I assure you that you can trust me."

"Livi, as I have offered to all of my staff, you are welcome to join the Order of the Phoenix. There will be many tests to make sure that you are truly loyal to the Light. We will have an initiation meeting next week. Do you accept the offer?"

"I do and I can assure you," Livi's pale eyes grew dark and fierce, "I want to see the fall of Voldemort more than anyone."

Dumbledore smiled and said, "Severus will lead you to your class room and show you where your chambers are located."

Livi shuddered and felt Snape take a sharp intake of breath beside her as if he were going to protest but thought better of it.

"Come, _professor_." Snape hissed, pivoting on one foot and hurrying out of the room.

"Call me Livi, Severus. We'll be seeing each other everyday, after all."

"Joy." Snape muttered as he led Livi up the grand staircase and towards the Defense classroom. "This is your classroom. Minerva McGonagall is the head of Gryffindor house, she teaches Transfiguration down there." Snape pointed to a door at the end of the hall. He walked to a large portrait of a small girl with her arms wrapped around a large timber wolf. She smiled up at Livi and Snape.

Livi smiled back while Snape chose to ignore the girl and wolf. "The password is up to you to choose. The last password I believe was Cornelius Fudge." 

Sure enough the girl nodded and the portrait swung open.

"Interesting password." Livi remarked.

"Quite. You may change it if you wish."

"I think I shall." Livi declared simply.

They stood there in an awkward silence, both looking at their feet. 

"Well, I guess I should go and get settled." Livi suggested.

"Yes, of course, goodbye Ms. de—Livi."

"Goodbye Severus."

There was a hallway before the actual room. It was a large sitting room, the walls were painted a rich navy and a large black leather couch sat in front of an empty fireplace. There was a large cherry wood desk at the corner of the room, quills and parchment arranged nicely on the desk. Livi pulled off her cloak and threw it down on the couch.

She turned to go over to the desk but stopped when something shimmered in the corner of her eye. Livi turned back to the cloak and the same opalescent folder she had been given before being brought back to Earth lay between the folds of her cloak.

Carefully Livi picked it up as if it were made of glass. Inside the folder there were many pockets. In one pocket there was a long, slender black wand, the core, essence of faerie dust. It was especially good for defensive and offensive spells and quite helpful when if came to transfiguration. Changing the appearance of her wardrobe to a darker color to go with the navy and black theme, Livi realized that her wardrobe was void of clothing inside it. Quickly she went to the pocket entitled "Money".__

Livi gingerly pulled out a small sack of money and a slender silver key with the number of her Gringotts vault written across it. Behind the sack and key was a piece of paper. Curious, Livi picked it up and began to read. It was her account history. She was shocked to see that she had quite a lot of money. At the bottom of the paper it listed recent transfers. All of the money from Dorcas' account had been transferred into Livi's. She'd have to go shopping soon.

Overwhelmed by the day's events, Livi laid her head on the back of her pillow and stared at the ceiling, trying to remember what Heaven had been like. Memories before the current day were already beginning to fade and Livi cried silently knowing that she very well may not see her friends for a while. This was obviously going to be harder than she thought and Remus was in the Order. This was going to be nearly impossible not to blow her cover and get sent to St. Mungos along with Gilderoy Lockhart. A small sob escaped from the block of ice in Livi's throat.

_Tomorrow, I'm going to buy a pensieve._ She decided. _I want to remember everything._

Exhausted, Livi fell into a sleep full of Lily and James Potter telling her to be strong.

Liz: *stops and catches breath* Whew! I haven't written a chapter that long in…well ever! Isn't that sad? So, what did you think of the chapter?

Livi: Well, it was interesting. I'm mad at you, you know that, right?

Liz: Yes. I'm sorry, but it wouldn't have been interesting if I didn't bring you back.

Livi: Couldn't I have had more of a warning?

Liz: Hey! I made you hot! Be happy!

Livi: Shut it! 

Liz: Excuse me? I'm the author of this fiction…I order _you_ around…

Livi: *sighs and turns to the readers* She's evil.

Liz: Haha. Yes reviews would be nice. Seriously, I'll give whoever reviews a cookie! lol. Check out my blog for the latest cookie receivers! Next chapter full of Remus, Harry and OWL results! Not to mention Snape, Livi and some other people…

**Lizpsky.blog-city.com**

**REVIEW MY FIC AND GET A COOKIE!**

**No flames please!**


	4. Chapter Three: Best Not Dwell

Chapter Three: 

A/N: I still can't get photoshop. It always crashes at "Initializing IFC Colors". Anyone know anything about Photoshop? I really need it to work!

"Was it you who spoke the words, that things would happen but not to me. All things are going to happen naturally. Oh, I'm taking your advice and I'm looking on the bright side and balancing out the whole thing."

~ "You and I Both", Jason Mraz

Livi de Tomel awoke in an energized fashion and walked down to the Great Hall in the same robes she had been wearing yesterday. Snape was speaking to Dumbledore in low tones while Dumbledore chuckled to himself and Snape grew more infuriated. A pale sickly man sat at the edge of the table with Madame Pomfrey talking somberly.

"Ah! Professor de Tomel!" Dumbledore beamed at her as Livi self consciously made her way to the table. 

A strict looking woman with a tight black bun stood up and shook Livi's hand.

"Minerva McGonagall of Transfiguration," she greeted briskly.

"Livi de Tomel, I'm the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

Livi took a seat at the between the peaky looking man and Snape. It wasn't until Livi saw the large scar running from the man's right ear to his shoulder that she realized who he was, for Livi had been with him when that scar had been gained. It had been one of the worst Death Eater raids in history.

Yet it was hard to believe that it wasn't her. It was Dorcas Meadowes; she was now Livi de Tomel and it was going to be hard getting used to that.

"Remus Lupin," he extended his hand wearily.

Livi smiled and shook it. His hands felt exactly the same as they had been before she died. Callused yet gentle and caring. 

_When did he get so old?_ She thought sadly, looking into his tired eyes.

"Livi de Tomel."

"Watch the Defense position," he began playfully, though his eyes were pained and galaxies away; his skin was pale and he wasn't eating much. It must've been the full moon soon. "It's cursed." Lupin explained.

"Now, now, Mr. Lupin," Snape sneered. "This one may actually be able to keep the job unlike others I could name…Like the Death Eater, Pompous Fake, _Werewolf,_" Snape seemed to relish saying that one. "Or the Polyjuice Pretender and how can we forget the lovely Ministry Maniac? But of course the students _loved _the_ werewolf." Snape finished, looking pointedly at Lupin._

Livi actually looked to see if there was venom dripping off of Snape's tongue. 

"What is your problem, _Sevvie__?" Livi snapped angrily towards Snape. "That is Mr. Lupin's business, and not your own."_

"Oh, but it is…" Snape sneered.

"It's not his fault, Ms. de," Lupin began quietly.

"Oh," Livi interrupted, "but it is. It's _Sevvie's__ fault for being a biased jerk."_

"Enough!" Dumbledore exclaimed. "Professor de Tomel, please. And Professor Snape, I suggest you place childhood grudges aside. There is a war going on and we are all on the same side. You're acting like fifth years!"

_Not far from it, Dumbledore…_

After breakfast Livi found herself wandering the halls of Hogwarts, not quite ready to go into Diagon Alley. The school seemed the same as it had been nearly twenty years ago when she had attended. There were a few more worn marks on the floor and there seemed to be a mini swamp growing in part of the castle. Livi looked down at the marsh thoughtfully.

"Fred and George Weasley's work." A calm voice stated from behind her.

Livi swung around so fast she almost hit Remus. 

"Mr. Lupin, you should be resting. You look simply dreadful."

"Being a werewolf does that, Ms. de Tomel."

"Please call me Livi." She smiled.

"If you call me Remus?" he offered.

Livi smiled but inside her heart was breaking. She wanted to run up and hug him so badly. To kiss him senseless and have him swing her around like a cliché ending to an old Muggle romance movie. But life was never simple and this was no exception. 

"So," Livi took a deep breath, unsure of what to say.

"Are you afraid of me, Livi?" Remus asked simply.

Livi snorted. "I'm as much afraid of as I am of _Sevvie_." 

"Poppy insists that with the Wolfsbane potion that I should stay in my quarters. I just wanted to check to see if it was okay with you if I did so." He paused and looked at her like a small child does his mummy when he's afraid. "Is that alright?"

_The Astronomy tower was empty that night; Remus Lupin was sitting near the edge with Dorcas Meadowes' small hands in his strong ones. The moon was a small sliver of nothing and the stars twinkled playfully above their heads and as their lips grew closer, the two prefects, one a Gryffindor, one a Ravenclaw, looked deeply into each other's eyes. There was nothing of undying love in those eyes and in the heat of the moment they didn't hear the sounds of unwanted footsteps as the male Slytherin prefect crept towards them._

_When the lovers parted, Severus Snape was looking down on them in disgust._

_"Meadowes," Snape drawled. "And Lupin?  My, what a couple you are. Hogwarts' most desirable girl has gone to the dogs." Snape smirked then said, "_Litterally_."_

_"What's he talking about, Rem?" Dorcas asked, confused._

_Snape laughed loudly. "Y-You mean he hasn't told you? Oh this is grand. Well I won't be the one to spoil this relationship." He turned swiftly on his heal and walked away, but not without a last comment. "By the way, I'm sure Dumbledore will be thrilled to hear that both the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor seventh year prefects were snogging under the _moonlight_."_

_Pain was clearly etched across Remus' face and Dorcas looked at him sympathetically._

_"You're a werewolf aren't you?" It was such a simple question with such a complex answer. _

_"Do you want the answer I wish was true or the one that is? One involves a perfectly normal Remus while the other involves a horrible monster that doesn't deserve to attend Hogwarts."_

_Dorcas__ didn't answer him right away but rather pulled him into one of the strongest hugs she could muster._

_"Never," she whispered sharply in Remus' ear. "Ever think you are worse than that jerk. You are so much better than every other student here at Hogwarts and I don't want you to forget it. Werewolf or not, you're the one I love."_

_"How could you love me?" Remus whispered bitterly, his head on her shoulder._

_"Well, Rem," Dorcas began simply. "You're one of the smartest people I've ever met, you're brave, you have the greatest sense of humor and," Dorcas pushed a strand of hair from his face and kissed his nose. "It's always going to be forever you, me and the stars, Rem."_

_"You, me and the stars."__ Remus repeated as he nudged his head into her long red hair, taking in the smell of herbs and citrus. "I love you, Orca."_

_"And I you, Rem."_

** ** **

The woman's face had gone blank and her eyes had glazed over a bit, changing from their pale blue to a sharp turquoise flecked with silver. A single tear fell from her eye as she stared into nothing.

"Livi, Livi? Ms. de Tomel!" Remus began to get louder, trying to bring her back from wherever she was. "Livi de Tomel!"

The woman's body gave a sharp jolt and she looked at Remus strangely. "Sorry, what did you say?" she asked quietly.

"When I transform tonight, under the influence of the Wolfsbane potion, is it alright with you if I stay in my room?"

"Perfectly fine." Livi assured him. "Remus, I think you've under estimated me. I'm not biased in any way towards werewolfs. Slimey gits like Snape on the other hand…"

Remus snorted. "Want a tour of the castle?"

"I'm guessing you attended?"

_You know it better than most, but then again, you showed them to me for snogging… James and Sirius just thought you were breaking into the Restricted Section. Ha! _

"Second in my class," Remus stated proudly. 

"Who was the first?"

_Let's see if you're still ashamed of losing to your girlfriend…_

"A Ravenclaw woman by the name of Dorcas Meadowes." Remus sighed. "She was something else."

_Merlin! Why are you doing this to me? I hate you Sirius Black. This is your fault._

"Would you show me around, Remus?"

"It'd be my pleasure."

** ** **

Harry Potter stared down nervously at the thick envelope in his hands. It had arrived nearly minutes ago and Harry was unsure of whether he wanted to look or not. Dudley was downstairs whining about something Harry was sure that Dudley had to have or he would just die.

_Death is a funny thing._ Harry thought to himself._ I mean, Sirius died protecting me and my friends while my mum and dad died protecting me. Am I really worth it?_

Somewhere in the back of Harry's head, a voice reminded Harry of the Prophecy. Harry shut his eyes tightly trying to squeeze it from his mind. He had enough stress with the envelope in his hands. Knowing that he was the only hope for the Wizarding Community and even Muggle community scared him. It scared him senseless because he couldn't do it. Harry couldn't imagine himself defeating the darkest wizard in the world. But he had to or else…

_No! Not now!_

Reluctantly Harry tore open the envelope. The first was a letter from Minerva McGonagall about supplies. The next was a short note from Albus Dumbledore.

_Dear Hogwarts Student and or Family,_

_As many of you are aware of, Voldemort has returned. As an extra precaution, Hogwarts' wards have been strengthened and Aurors will be patrolling the school grounds at all times, along with the Hogwarts Express. An earlier curfew will also be enforced as will several other rules. The safest place for your children is Hogwarts. _

_Albus__ Dumbledore_

_Headmaster of __Hogwarts__School__ of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

Harry sighed and threw the two letters aside. He had quickly glanced from each grade, pleased to know that he had gotten into NEWT level Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Care of Magical Creatures and Transfiguration. The last letter was his Potions grade. It was slimmer than all of the other letters. Harry vacantly wondered if he really wanted to be an Auror now that he knew what his true purpose in life was. 

Shrugging nervously, Harry tore open the envelope.

**Potter, Harry**

**Potions Written: **_Acceptable****_

**Potions Practical: **_Acceptable****_

**Overall Grade: **_Acceptable****_

Harry felt his heart sink. He wasn't going to be an Auror after all.


	5. Chapter Four: Pensieve Thougts

Author's Note: So, I finished this earlier than thought and now I'm going to fail a bunch of tests… Y'all better review! … Seriously though, **no update until ten (10) reviews. New rule of mine. Also, if you ask me a question in a review, check back, because I'll answer it.**

"Fortiter in re, leniter in modo" is Latin for "Courage for the deed, grace for the doing." Something I've known for a while and never really understood the meaning until about a year ago. 

Also, there are many hints in this fic including some foreshadowing and anagrams. Anyone who finds any gets the chapter early! (Unless you're Jena or Elaine because you basically get it early anyway. Even if you've got the nasty job of editing or giving me advice. Though you can guess at the anagrams)

"If you're on your own in this life,

The days and nights are long.

When you think you've had too much life,

Hang on."

~ "Everybody Hurts", REM

Chapter Four: Pensieve Thoughts

Livi smiled at Remus politely and waved as she made her way towards the large front doors of the Entrance Hall. Wearily he waved back and turned to walk up the stairs slowly and stiffly. The pain potion Poppy had given him must've been wearing off now and he wouldn't be able to take anymore because within about five hours Remus would become the monster that lurked within the deepest shadows of his soul. 

Remus and Livi had spent the better part the morning discussing Hogwarts and teaching. Livi, who had always been an Auror was finding that being a teacher was going to be a lot more work than she thought.

_iThank God for the Secritarius spell./i_ Livi thought as she pulled her long, crimson hair into a ponytail and set off towards the gate. A large groan escaped from somewhere near the forest and Livi quickly changed the direction in which she was walking; curiosity getting the best of her. 

As she neared the forest, she saw a battered man emerge from the thick trees. He was as tall as two seventh years and as wide as one lying across. Though his beard was longer and had a few flecks of gray in it, Livi knew at once it was Hagrid.

"Miss, yer should'n be out near the fores'. It's not the safest place, ya know."

"I'm sorry." Livi apologized quietly, looking at the sickly green bruise under the man's eye. 

"Rubeus Hagrid, Hogwarts' keeper of the keys and Care of Magical Creatures professor." He greeted, extending a dirty hand caked with dried blood.

"Livi de Tomel, I'm the new Defense professor."

"Nice ter meet ya!" Hagrid shook her hand fiercely. "Ya look promisin', tha's fer sure."

"Erm, thank you, Hagrid." Livi replied, a tad confused. How did she look promising?

"It's nothing, Professor. Well I must be off. Need to go and check on the Kneazle order for the firs' years."

Livi nodded and sighed realizing she'd have to rush once in Diagon Alley. Glad to have much longer legs, Livi burst into a sprint towards the large gate. Once she had reached the large stone archway and Iron Gate, Livi stopped and looked at her surroundings. She checked her watch and noticed it was later than she thought. As she brought her hand up to the large gate to push it open, a surge of energy flowed from her finger tips and up her arm. Surprised, Livi pulled her hand back and inspected it. The tips of her fingers were red as if they had been burned. 

"Tsk, tsk, Professor." A cool voice drawled from behind her.

Livi looked up from her tingling hand to see the sneering face of Severus Snape.

"What, now, i_Sevvie_/i_?" Livi snapped._

"Didn't your i_boss/i_ tell you?" Snape asked lightly, though the sarcasm was clearly evident.

"Spit it out, iSev/i."

"Don't call me that." Snape hissed.

"Then tell me what you're on about," she paused and grinned malevolently. "_Snivellus_."

Livi immediately wished she hadn't said that one because she could've easily blown her cover and two because it was definitely not the right thing to say. Snape winced and looked as though he'd been slapped rather hard. It was obvious that only one emotion was surging violently through his veins; pure hatred.

After he had regained his composure, Snape stood up to his full height, just barely a few inches taller than Livi. He looked her straight in the eye and tilted her chin up in the same way Voldemort had the night Dorcas had died.

"I don't know where you got that-that _name_," Snape began sharply. "But if you call me it again, there will be consequences."

"I'll take that into account, Snape." Livi mumbled, her voice a bit muffled by Snape's strong hand under her chin. Never before had she seen him so angry and hurt. She almost pitied the man.

Snape raised a surprised eyebrow and dropped his hand to his side. 

He coughed. "Watch," Snape instructed, pulling out a long black wand. "Give me your wand hand. I'll teach you."

Livi nodded and pulled out her wand.

"To get by the new wards Dumbledore had activated this morning you need to do this," Snape swished his wand back and forth in a complicated manner while repeating the spell four times. "Do you get it?"

Livi shook her head slightly and Snape began leading her wand hand in the motion he had used his. 

"Now keep doing this. The incantation is 'fortiter in re, leniter in modo'."

Livi did as she was instructed and soon the gates began to glow a pale blue.

"Now say your name." Snape told her.

"Livi de Tomel." Livi stated firmly.

"Severus Snape."

With a soft 'clank' the gate opened, allowing the pair to leave.

"It records who enters and leaves." Snape explained.

"I see." 

They stood looking at their shoes in an extremely awkward silence. In the distance the sound an owl's wings sounded tremendously loud. Livi shifted her weight back and forth and disapparated without saying a word.

Snape looked up at the loud crack to see that Livi was gone. Sighing, he too appararted.

** ** **

Diagon Alley was just as busy as Livi remembered it. Mothers held tightly to multiple children as they made their way down the busy street, groceries trailing lightly behind them, the lettuce or bread zapping any witch or wizard interested in "borrowing" the food.

A large group of red-haired people cut quickly through the crowds. Livi watched with minor amusement at how many children Molly and Arthur Weasley really had. Of course she'd met Bill and Charlie but they were only toddlers then and when she had died, Molly had just given birth to another son named Perky or Price or Percy… Yes, Percy, that was it. Though Livi remembered one night while watching Harry, Ron had told him about how Percy wasn't truly considered a family member anymore because he had sided with the Ministry. 

Molly Weasley, much more plump than she had been sixteen years ago was busy shouting things to the jogging children behind her like, "Can you believe it! Arthur and the twins and Bill all in one year!" or "I'm just so proud of my boys!" It was typical of the over-emotional woman. At Dorcas' funeral Molly had cried the most of anyone, and they had never been close anyway. Molly was more a part of the Order because her husband was and she was eager to help.

Molly and Livi were very different indeed. Molly loved having the most children possible and acting like everyone's mother while Livi enjoyed adventure and true love though children were not something quite on her agenda at the moment.

Livi was brought back from her thoughts by the ground meeting her face. Almost immediately a kind freckled face with long red hair and a silver-blonde haired woman were looking down at her, the red head offering a hand.

"I am so terribly sorry!" the blonde exclaimed with a heavy French accent. "Bill was telling me to watch out and sure enough I run into someone!"

Bill, looking much older than he had the last time she saw him smiled and led the blonde away, back towards the disappearing group of red heads.

Chuckling slightly, Livi walked into Flourish and Blott's to purchase some supplies and ask about where to purchase a pensieve. The book store looked the same. The many shelves packed to the brim with books ranging from "So You Want to Raise a House Elf" to "Advanced Divination" or "Donny the Dragon". Livi walked over to the blank book section and looked through it carefully, grabbing two books. A journal and a grade book.

The journal was navy lined with a silver finish. A pale blue, almost white, ribbon held it closed. The grade book was a simple green leather book with a special locking spell so that prying students couldn't access it. Grabbing a few quills and bottles of ink along with some parchment and light reading, Livi left the store with a heavier bag then intended.

Over the next few hours Livi rushed about buying her clothing, a pensieve, which proved to be a lot more expensive than Livi had known and her money bag had grown a lot lighter because of it.

Finally satisfied with what she had bought, Livi stopped into the Leaky Cauldron to grab a drink. It had been a long time since Livi had drunken a butter beer and she figured now would be the time to do it.

Pleased to see that Tom was still the bartender, Livi walked up to the toothless man and ordered her butter beer. Sipping it quietly, Livi listened to the many conversations going on.

"You-Know-Who…back…Fudge lied…" an elderly woman was saying in low tones to a frightened young boy, presumably her grandson who looked on the verge of tears.

"…New Minister…" a man with a lopsided conical hat whispered to another man in shabby clothes.

"Wotcher." A voice greeted from beside Livi.

Livi looked up at a woman with bright pink, spiky hair. Livi couldn't remember her name, but she remembered seeing her once or twice with Remus discussing Order business.

"Hi," Livi greeted, taking another sip and looking at a young boy with flaming red hair and a girl with thick brown hair whose mouth was moving at an insane speed.

"What will you tell Harry?" the girl exclaimed.

_iHermione…/i_

"Nothing. He's got enough on his plate now." The red head answered.

_iRon…/i_

"You know 'em?" the woman asked Livi, her voice taking on a sharpish tone.

"No, do you?" Livi lied.

"Yes I do, the red head's father is the new Minister of Magic."

Livi tried her best not to spit out her butter beer. Never before had she seen this coming, but then again, the future she had seen was with Sirius, Harry, Snape, D.A., Dumbledore and the Order battling with Voldemort and his army, Harry eventually killing Voldemort.

Then again, the future could change.

"What?" she spluttered.

"Arthur Weasley was announced Minister of Magic this morning after Fudge resigned due to unknown reasons." The woman smiled broadly and leaned close to Livi's ear. "But between you and me, I think he quit because the man is an incompetent coward."

Livi nodded into her butter beer.

"Tonks," the woman extended her hand.

"Livi."

"You wouldn't be the new Defense prof. would you?"

"Actually I am." Livi answered, paying for her butter beer and getting up to leave. "I really must be going though, sorry Miss Tonks."

"It's quite fine. Have a good night, Ms. de Tomel."

** ** **

Tonks watched the woman with long maroon hair and the palest blue eyes she'd ever seen leave the building. She turned to Ron and Hermione who had finished their dinner and walked over to their table.

"You two ready to go?" she asked them, running a hand through her hair.

Hermione looked up anxiously at Tonks. "I need another woman's opinion on something."

Ron groaned and Tonks pulled up a chair, sitting with the back facing towards the table, her long legs wrapped over the back rest.

"What do you need to talk about, Hermione?"

Hermione took a deep breath and Ron buried his head in his hands, mumbling about women and secrets.

"Well," Hermione began slowly. "It all started last summer when I received a letter from a certain someone." Hermione looked kindly in Ron's direction. "After we came to You-Know-Where, Ron and I discovered what we had truly been missing for the past four years. It's been one year and we still haven't told Harry that we're," Hermione paused and Ron took in a breath, not letting it out. "That we're going out."

Ron left the breath out loudly and Tonks smiled sweetly at the two.

"It's nice of you to try and protect Harry, but you can't stay in the dark forever. It's better you tell him than having him find out from the wrong people. I mean, you wouldn't want him to get some distorted version of the truth, would you?"

"No, I guess not." Ron mumbled from inside his hands.

"When will we see him next?" Hermione asked in a low whisper.

Tonks shook her head in answer. "Let's get you two back to You-Know-Where."

The two teenagers nodded and followed the Auror out the door.

** ** **

When Livi arrived back at Hogwarts she immediately rushed up to her rooms, not wishing to run into anyone.

Livi was never that lucky.

"Livi! Livi!" a shrilly voice called from behind her.

Livi cringed and turned to see Madame Pomfrey rushing towards her. 

"How are you feeling, Professor?" she questioned, placing the back of her hand to Livi's face.

"I'm fine, Poppy, really."

"Now, now," the school matron clucked. "No use lying to me. Tell me, are you tired, dizzy, in pain, light headed, sick to your stomach or have odd rashes in odd places?"

Livi sighed. "I'm a bit tired. I think it's best that I rest." She said quickly.

Madame Pomfrey clasped her hands together and smiled. "I'll let you be on your way then. Farewell, professor!" 

Livi set her bags down on her couch and opened the large package that held her pensieve.  She threw the heavy tissue paper to the floor and sat the large basin on her lap. She brought the tip of her wand to the temple and began to extract her earliest memories. Livi figured they would be the first ones to go. As Livi pulled the wand from her temple and led the long silvery strand of a memory into the pensieve, she felt somewhat lighter. The memory of her first Ministry ball and when she had met Arthur Weasley danced in the shimmering substance in front of her.

** ** ** 

When Remus transformed into the wolf, he seemed to remember his worst memories. Even with the Wolfsbane potion it was still horrible. As he paced about the room there was no doubt in his mind he'd be reliving the scene that had haunted him for the past few weeks.

The death of his best friend, Sirius Black.

Remus looked out his window fleetingly to see the moon beginning to rise. A painful sensation from the bottom of his spinal cord grew as he grew fur and his bones reshaped and arranged themselves. He fell to the floor, trying to block out the memory that played in his head.

_iRemus Lupin sat on the coffee table of Lily and James Potter while James was telling the story of how Sirius had once charmed Snape to dance the tango with Professor McGonagall during Transfiguration. James had soon pulled up his sixth month pregnant wife and began dancing the tango with her while Remus and Peter laughed. The only thing missing at the moment were Sirius who was over in __Spain__ on an Auror mission and Remus' girlfriend, Dorcas. _

_"Lily, my sweet flower," James purred, kissing her bulging stomach. _

_"Eurgh, get a room!" Peter squealed._

_Everyone burst out laughing and James gave Peter a hearty punch in the shoulder._

_"C'mon, Wormtail, Lily's my wife! Speaking of wives," James turned to Remus who immediately began blushing. "Moony, you and Dorcas have been going out for what? Two years , right? So, when are you going to ask her?"_

_"Soon, I swear. I just need to pick the right time."_

_Lily snorted. "There is never _the right time_, Remus. Merlin, James asked me right before Snape's sister's funeral!"_

_"And you said yes?" Peter laughed. _

_"No, I slapped him in the face but we're married now, aren't we?"_

_"I'll ask her first thing tomorrow." Remus declared, proudly._

_"And she'll say yes!" James chimed in._

_The front door swung open in swift manner and a pale Severus Snape swept into the room. Even in his dark gray robes, a darker stain was clear in his side. Immediately James, Remus and Peter were on their feet, wands pointed at the school rival._

_"Remus, I need you to come with me outside for a second." Snape said; his voice thick with unidentified emotion._

_ Remus left the house with Snape in a dreamlike state. He could barely remember hearing Snape describe Dorcas' duel with Voldemort or his apologies for not being able to do more. His heart refused to accept the news yet in his brain sirens were going off and he felt his world crumble around him for the first time. In about a year his newly rebuilt life would crash around him again and there would be no shoulder to cry on./i_

The wolf peered around his room, confused by the memory. Even with the Wolfsbane it was hard to keep a straight thought going. Deciding that he'd rather sleep, the wolf curled up in the floor.

Remus Lupin awoke the next morning with a splitting headache. Wincing as he stood up, Remus made his way to the bed where a platter full of miscellaneous potions was waiting. Quickly he reached for the pain-killing potion and downed it, the warmth of the pale blue potion spreading through his veins, relaxing his strained muscles. After taking several more potions and pushing aside the ones he had deemed unnecessary, Remus slid into the bed and fell into a medicine-induced sleep.

_i"Oh Grandmother!" a voice sang from the doorway._

_Remus looked up from his copy of the Daily Prophet as a short, red-head with vibrant green eyes skipped into the room in a red cape with a picnic basket._

_"Grandmother!" she gasped. "What big teeth you have!"_

_Remus raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend._

_"And Grandmother!__ What big ears you have!"_

_Remus cocked his head to the side as his girlfriend put down the picnic basket and sat on his lap._

_"And Grandmother… What big lips you have…" she finished, kissing him quickly before hopping off his lap again. "Such a big bad wolf." Dorcas winked._

_Remus rolled his eyes and pulled her back onto his lap. "I hope that wasn't sarcasm." He whispered in her ear, kissing her stomach up and down as she kicked her feet._

_"S-Stop!__ Rem! That tickles! Please!" she screamed. _

_The snickering from the doorway made the two look up. James Potter stood in the doorframe, a huge smile plastered across his face._

_Oh the downside to sharing a flat with your best friends…_

_"In the Muggle tale, doesn't Red win?"_

_"This is a different version," Remus stated simply before kissing his girlfriend on the cheek and hoisting her upright._

_"And Dorcas, what kind of a Red Riding Hood do you think you are? Red doesn't kiss the wolf!" James exclaimed. "I paid attention in Muggle studies, ya know!"_

_"I'm not little Red Riding Hood though," Dorcas began slyly. "I'm little Red _Riding_ Hood."_

_Remus coughed and James snorted, leaving the room quickly, bursting into laughter as soon as he'd reached the end of the hallway./i_

Remus awoke in a cold sweat and found that he was shivering and couldn't get warm. With a quavering hand he reached for a potion bottle. The bottle slid out of his sweaty palm and hit the floor with a nasty sizzling noise. Taking in a shallow breath, Remus tried to get out of his bed. This had never happened before. As soon as he was standing upright, the world seemed to spin and Remus grabbed for the bed post which seemed to have disappeared. Stumbling almost blindly around the room, Remus managed to find the floo powder and ignite a fire.

"Severus Snape," he coughed; his throat suddenly very dry. 

The last image he could see before falling unconscious was the look of trouble that clouded over Snape's face.

Author's Note: I am so sorry for all you Harry/Hermione shippers out there, but I'm trying to go with canon and rumors that I've read that make sense and it seemed to me that Hermione and Ron had been going out last year. I mean, look at how Ron matured. Sure, the whole aspect of being a prefect could've done it, but maybe a little bit of Hermione rubbed off on him once they started going out.

Once again I'm terribly sorry. If you want to read some of my H/Hr fics, I recommend, "New Faces, Old Friends" and its sequel, "Returning is Never Easy".__


	6. Chapter Five: Complications

"I was a mess in my open eyed youth.

I grew up thinking."

~ "Love/Hate", Liz Phair

Author's Note: I AM A TWISTED WRITER (apply it in both ways, if you will). If you read "New Faces, Old Friends" which is probably one of the worst stories ever written, you'd notice the tiny plot twists I threw in. That story will be NOTHING compared to what will happen twist-wise in this story. Be prepared. I throw in a lot of new stuff this chapter.

Chapter Five: Complications

It was around twelve in the afternoon and Livi was practically skipping about Hogwarts, happy to be back. That night she'd placed almost all of her memories into the pensieve. Livi had noticed it was harder to remember specific details now, even if it was only her third day back. Livi could scarcely remember the color of Sirius' eyes or the length of Peter's hair, but then again, hadn't really known Peter. 

For that she was almost thankful.

Livi ran her hand along the wall as she made her way down the stone passage ways that only teachers and a few "select" students knew. So many things had happened in this hallway. It was the second time she'd met Remus. The first was on the Hogwarts express back in her fifth year when they had become prefects.

_"I'll see you in a little while, Camilla." Dorcas waved to her friend, setting off towards the front of the train._

_Dorcas__ had never had the highest grades in her class, but they were still in the top ten. In front of her, Mark Abbott was flirting with Samantha White, the two Hufflepuff prefects would most likely spend their time snogging after hours, just because their curfew was later than the other students._

_It wasn't that Dorcas didn't like snogging or boyfriends, quite far from it, but she'd spent her first four years at Hogwarts with a different boyfriend and now she was tired of fooling around and wanted something real. Something special. Something she would cherish for years to come, even if in the end it didn't work out._

_When she had finally reached the compartment, Dorcas was glad to see she wasn't the first one there, or last either. In the small area sat a pretty red head with startling emerald eyes. Later Dorcas would find that she had been compared to Lily as her little sister almost, even if Dorcas' hair was blonder and she was technically four months older.  _

_But Lily Evans was a nice girl, despite her temper which she only used on James Potter and Severus Snape. She smiled sweetly at Dorcas and patted the seat next to her. Dorcas slowly sat down. It was thought for a while that the two hated each other, but the truth was far from it. The moment Lily spoke about her Muggle heritage and evil sister, Petunia, Dorcas knew that Lily Evans would become one of her closest friends._

_Though Dorcas was a pure-blood, she did not believe in what the current "cleansing" Voldemort was doing. At this point, everyone still called him Voldemort but within the next year or so the name "You-Know-Who" would catch on after the death of five students during a Hogsmeade trip. Also, she too had an evil sister who would later be found out to have been a Death Eater._

_Dorcas__ surveyed the room she was in. The two Slytherin prefects were discussing something in low tones while Lily began talking to an off-color looking Gryffindor next to her. _

_"Dorcas," Lily began sweetly, "This is Remus."_

_Dorcas__ waved shyly to him. Sure, he wasn't the cutest boy she'd ever seen, but something about his long sandy hair and crisp amber eyes told her that he was special. In what ways she wouldn't find out until she met him weeks later, rushing towards her Transfiguration class, to bump into him and knock him over. It wouldn't be the most graceful of greetings, but that didn't matter to her. Not anymore._

Something heavy knocked Livi to the ground and she looked up to see Severus Snape scrambling to pick up several dropped potions bottles that surprisingly hadn't broken.

"Watch where you're going!" Snape spat as he began quickening his pace.

Livi pushed herself up from the ground and followed Snape, shouting at him to slow down.

"Snape! SNAPE! WAIT!" Livi shouted, as he bounded up the stairs.

Livi finally caught up to him and though he would not look her way, he began talking to her in quick tones.

"…wrong order…bloody werewolves! Now he's probably killed himself… Thirty-six years…ten that he's been taking the wolfsbane… you'd think he'd…"

Livi didn't understand was he was saying. Something about werewolves.

_Oh Merlin! Remus!_

"Wait!" Livi exclaimed. "What happened?"

"That prat, Lupin, most likely took his potions in the wrong order." Snape answered in a semi-exasperated tone.

"And that can kill him?" 

"Oh easily. One of the potions has traces of liquid silver. He is supposed to take another potion to counter the silver in the first one. He must've taken it out of order. Taking the counter potion first leaves it useless."

"How do you know all of this?" Livi asked quietly, fearing the worst already.

"Somehow he managed to send a floo call to me. I saw him collapse onto the floor a few minutes ago."

"Does Poppy know?"

"Go get her."

Without even thinking, Livi broke away from the direction Snape was heading and turned sharply towards where the Hospital wing was. It felt like it had been hours by the time Livi had reached the Hospital Wing. 

The doors were locked and Livi found herself banging frantically upon them.

"POPPY POMFREY! POPPY! ARE YOU THERE?"

A miffed, Madame Pomfrey opened the door and looked at Livi, her hands on her hips.

"Yes, Ms. de Tomel?" Pomfrey snapped.

"…Remus…Potions…Dead…Snape…Help…Now…" Livi exclaimed.

"Once more, Professor."

"Lupin is in trouble! You need to help him!" Livi explained quickly.

In an instant the back of Poppy's robe was visible and Livi was yet again chasing after someone. This time however, Livi found herself answering the questions.

"What exactly happened?" Pomfrey panted.

"Snape thinks Lupin took the potions in the wrong order!" Livi called back, wondering how a woman of Pomfrey's age was so damn fast.

"Which potions?"

"I don't know, one with silver and one to stop the silver effects."

Poppy stopped dead in her tracks, almost causing Livi to run into the school nurse.

"Did Snape have anything in his hands?' Poppy asked quietly.

"A bunch of potions."

"Good."

And then she kept running, faster than before. Livi followed after her in what seemed to be in slow motion. She vaguely noticed the staring portraits or heard Pomfrey shouting things after her. The only thing that was important was knowing if Remus was going to live or not. The world seemed to go black around her and the only thing she could see was the white shape of Poppy Pomfrey. The only the she could feel was the cool stones beneath her bare feet as she ran after the woman. The only thing Livi could hear was her heart.

** ** **

Hailiana Andrews looked around her bedroom. Her long black hair was pulled back in a simple braid that ended just above her waist. Dark blue eyes looked sadly around the room, knowing that she wouldn't be returning soon if at all. A completely packed trunk sat by the doorway. 

The walls of the room were barren and white. All furniture and posters had been stripped from the walls and all her personal items had been packed away into storage along with her parents' furniture. 

Hailiana gripped the silver amulet around her neck. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to forget what had happened. That previous week had been full of firsts. It had been the first time Hailiana had been wrong about her powers. So wrong that now both of her parents were sitting at the British Wizard hospital unlikely to wake again. That her guardian became someone in another country. 

Her guardian turned out to be Albus Dumbledore. Hailiana didn't even know that her parents had known him that well. But that didn't matter. In a few minutes he and a few of his Order members would be at her house to take her away with them.

Hailiana's parents, Freddrick and Julie had been international members for the Order of the Phoenix, a secret group of people dedicated to the downfall of Voldemort. Rarely did they meet with the Albus Dumbledore.

_Yet he's the one I have to live with now._ Hailiana thought sadly. __

Hailiana was only fifteen but wasn't sure exactly what year she'd be put in at Hogwarts. Hailiana had started school a few years early when she was younger as a special precaution incase something were to ever happen to her.

Hailiana fingered the amulet again, trying to block out the all too familiar words that began swimming through her mind.

_The storm will see the sun set and rise in the afternoon._

_Day overpowers night._

_Night cannot prevail through the storm._

_Lightning stands alone without the storm._

_To succeed, storm needs lightning and thunder._

_Thunder will depart and be reborn._

_The storm is the connection between lightning and thunder._

_With the storm, lightning and thunder, comes darkness._

_The moon shines through the night._

_Lightning is the source of day._

_Requiem Aeternam _

"Ready to go, Miss Andrews?" a gentle voice asked, causing Hailiana to jump. 

Hailiana nodded quietly, taking one last look around her room. 

"Are you familiar with port key?" a scarred man with an electric blue eyeball asked.

She nodded again

"And you're a metamorphmagus?" a woman with spiked purple hair asked.

Hailiana sighed. "Sort of. My grandmum was, I'm more of a forth."

"And your grandmother also gave you that amulet." A tall, bald black man with a single gold hoop and a deep, almost musical voice stated.

Hailiana nodded, still looking at her feet. 

"Come then." Dumbledore stated quietly, taking Hailiana's hand. "I do believe that I am needed at Hogwarts and I think that Miss Tonks should get Hailiana settled into her rooms until school starts."

The spiky haired woman patted Hailiana's back and held a small, lifeless snitch out in which everyone held, the man with the eye held Hailiana's trunk.

When they arrived at Hogwarts, a teary eyed woman in white nurse's robes was crying.

** ** **

Harry Potter sat at his makeshift desk, writing letters to the Order and his friends.

_Dear Ron,_

_How were your OWL results? Better than the Fred and George's I hope. I bet your mum would have kittens if her little prefect got below six. Overall I got 8/10. I didn't get the Potions OWL. I'm not sure what I'll be able to do when I leave Hogwarts now…That is if I ever leave Hogwarts… When am I going to see you again? Are you going to pick me up and take me to You-Know-Where soon? I don't really want to go back there at all, but it's better than being here. How's Hermione doing? Have you seen her? What's the status of Voldemort? (Ron, you should really start saying his name. If you are afraid of even saying his name it only pleases him even more. And don't make that face.) How is everyone? Say hi to your family for me?_

_~HP_

_PS: What's the deal with Perfect Percy now?_

_Dear Hermione,_

_Let me guess your OWL results. 10/10? Of course you got that high. You're the smartest witch I've ever met. How's your summer going? I know you're probably with Ron right now reading this letter. Honestly you two would make a good couple. (Please don't kill me for saying that.) Any idea who the new Defense teacher is?_

Harry basically copied the rest of his previous letter onto this one and sat it into his pile of letters to be mailed.

It seemed that after the appropriate amount of letters had been written Harry still felt obligated to write. Maybe it was because he'd lied yet again in his letters to the Order. But there was something that Harry remembered being told last year. 

Dipping his quill into his ink, Harry Potter began writing a letter to Minerva McGonagall regarding his Potions OWL results.

** ** **

"Tonks, why don't you take Miss Andrews to her rooms while I talk with Poppy?" Dumbledore suggested to the very confused group of people. "Alastor why don't you and Kingsley head back to Headquarters?"

Everyone set off to what they were supposed to be doing and Hailiana looked back at the frantic witch trying to explain something incoherently to the Headmaster.

"Be best if you changed your hair color and eye color, don't want to be recognized." Tonks explained once outside of Hailiana's rooms.

Hailiana looked into the mirror and screwed up her face. She could feel her nose shortening and her hair coming out of the braid into a long curly style. When she opened her eyes, she saw a blonde with piercing gray eyes. 

"You look _good_!" Tonks exclaimed, holding Hailiana's now blonde hair. Tonks as well screwed up her face and in a few seconds she looked like Hailiana's older sister with slightly shorter blonde hair, the same short nose and crisp gray eyes.

"You can be Hail, my cousin. Let's see," Tonks pulled out a small piece of parchment. "According to Dumbledore, you need a different last name too." Tonks put her index finger to her chin and tapped it quietly while thinking. "Storm. We'll call you Hail Storm."

Hailiana winced but nodded. It was for her safety and how ironic that her last name would be storm.

A/N: WAIT! Before you go all "She's a Mary-Sue!" on me, just wait and hear what I have to say.

She will NOT go out with Harry You'll find that her attitude is quite different from the perky lil M-Ss you always see. Hail has a secret that most M-Ss couldn't even dream of holding… 


End file.
